Sewing machine attachment for stitching over wire objects



July 1, 1969 3,452,692

SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENT FOR S'IYITCHING OVER WIRE OBJECTS R. J.ROSEMAN Sheet of3 Filed July 20, 1967 I N VEN TOR. PIC/IA AD ROSE/WAN AY A TTOR/YE Y July 1, 1969 R. J. ROSEMAN 3,452,692

SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENT FOR STITCHING OVER WIRE OBJECTS Filed July 20,1967 Sheet 2 of s I mvmon. |=j .l4. 1 15 fjflrlfi Till? RICHARD R05MANBY Z24 ATTORNEY July 1, 1969 R. J. ROSEMAN 3,452,692

SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENT FOR STITCHING OVER WIRE OBJECTS I Filed July20, 1967 Sheet 3 of s BY 2 x United States Patent US. Cl. 1122 4 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Mechanism includes a finger for preventingthe needle of a sewing machine from striking a wire object such as afastener eye carried by a fabric tape, which finger is moved bothhorizontally and vertically upon reciprocation of the sewing machineneedle into and out of the work, so that the finger engages and pushesthe object out of the path of the descending needle and is elevatedabove the wire object upon ascent of the needle out of the work,respectively. Said finger is vertically slidable in a carrier which ispivotally mounted on either the head of a sewing machine or on theoscillatory needle-carrying bracket or rock frame.

Background of the invention The invention relates in general to sewingmachines for stitching over wire objects such as wire fastener eye loopscarried by a fabric tape, particularly during the attachment of suchfastener bearing tape to garments and the like. Some of such deviceshave hitherto operated by causing a stop finger to positively stopmovement of the wire object prior to the descent of the needle andpreparatory to the formation of stitches to traverse the wire of theobjects, thereby to prevent accidental contact of the needle with thewire, Patent No. 1,942,903 being an example of such a device.

Other devices operate by pushing the wire objects out of the path of theneedle, for example as shown by Patent No. 1,732,394.

Still other devices of this general nature operate by moving the needlerelatively to its normal stitching path each time a wire on the tapecrosses the stitching point.

In devices such as shown by Patent Nos. 1,942,903 and 1,732,394, thewire engaging fingers and their actuating mechanisms are mounted on theframe of the machine in separated relation to the needle, while thedevices in which the needle is moved relatively to its normal stitchingpath include fingers mounted on the machine frame and actuated by thewire passing beneath the needle. In all of these known devices thenormal speed of the sewing machine must be reduced to attainsatisfactory operation of the wire engaging fingers; the devices arenoisy and cause objectionable vibration, and there is difiiculty inattaining proper correlation of the operation of the wire engagingfinger with the work feeding means and the needle of the stitch-formingmechanism.

Summary A primary object of the present invention is to provide a sewingmachine attachment for stitching over wire objects which shall embodynovel and improved features of construction whereby the objections toand difficulties with the known stitching over mechanisms shall beovercome; and more particularly the invention contemplates such a devicein which a wire-engaging finger is normally disposed above the wireobject and is lowered and moved horizontally in one direction intoengagement with the wire as the needle descends to push the object outof the path of the needle, and in which the wire-engaging finger iscaused 3,452,692 Patented July 1, 1969 ice to move horizontally in theopposite direction and upwardly out of the path of the wire by and withthe needle as the latter ascends.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stitching overattachment of this nature wherein the wire-engaging finger is carried bya lever that is movably mounted on the oscillatory needle bar carryingbracket or rockframe, and there are coacting elements some of which areon the needle bar and others on said lever for swinging the lever tomove the finger horizontally and for raising the lever to move thefinger vertically.

A brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary schematicfront elevation of a known type of sewing machine having an attachmentconstructed in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation thereof with the cover plate removed forclearness in illustration;

FIGURE 3 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary schematic end elevation ofthe needle bar rock frame, needle reciprocating mechanism and theattachment embodying the invention, showing the needle inwork-penetrating position and the wire-engaging finger in position toengage a wire to effect a control movement of the latter in thedirection opposite to the work feed;

FIGURE 3A is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view approximately onthe plane of the line 3A of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3, but showing the parts fromapproximately the plane of the line 44 of FIGURE 1, and with some partsomit-ted;

FIGURE 4A is a fragmentary view similar to FIGURE 4 but showing theneedle and the wire engaging finger in their elevated positions;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary elevation similar to FIG- URE 4A but showingparts broken away for clearness of illustration;

FIGURE 5A is a horizontal sectional view on the plane of the line 5A-5Aof FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 6 is a similar view showing the needle and the wire-engagingfinger on their descending movements;

FIGURE 7 is a vertical sectional view approximately on the plane of theline 77 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 8 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary horizontal section view onthe plane of the line 88 of FIGURE 6 and a plan view of a portion of agarment and fabric tape bearing wire eye fasteners and showing thewireengaging finger in engagement with one of the wire eye fasteners;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary schematic elevation of the needle point andthe wire engaging finger in their uppermost positions, and showing awire eye fastener in section on a fabric tape;

FIGURE 10 is a similar view showing the needle descending and the wireengaging finger in its lowermost position;

FIGURE 11 is a similar view, but showing a horizontal movement of thefinger relatively to the needle and a control movement of the wire eyefastener out of the path of the needle in a direction opposite to thework feed;

FIGURES 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 are similar views showingsuccessive movements of the parts during the operation of stitching overthe wire;

FIGURE 19 is an exploded perspective view of the parts of theattachment;

FIGURE 20 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 showing a modified form of theinvention wherein the control movement of the wire is in the samedirection as the work feed with portions of the needle bar mountingomitted;

FIGURE 21 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 of the modified form of theinvention shown in FIGURE 20;

FIGURE 22 is a view similar to FIGURE 5 of the modified form of theinvention;

FIGURE 23 is a view similar to FIGURE 6 of the modi fied form of theinvention;

FIGURE 24 is a horizontal sectional view on the plane of the line 2424of FIGURE 22, and

FIGURES 25 to 34, inclusive, are similar to FIGURES 9 through 18 butillustrating the stitching over operation performed by the modified formof the invention.

Brief description of the preferred embodiments of the invention Theinvention, for the purpose of illustrating the principles thereof, hasbeen shown in connection with a known type of sewing machine whichincludes the usual bed plate A and gooseneck or frame B in which isjournaled the usual drive shaft C for actuating the mechanism C thatreciprocates the needle bar D. On the underside of the bed plate is aknown type of work feed mechanism that includes a feed dog E whichprojects through a slot in a throat plate F so as to grip the workbetween itself and the usual spring biased presser foot G, whereby thework H is fed in the direction of the arrows of FIGURES 2 and 3. I haveshown a machine having the oscillating or rocking type of sewing needleswhich penetrate the work, swing forward with the work feeding movementof the feed dog, then rise and swing back preparatory to againpenetrating the work thereby to complete a stitch. Two needles D havebeen shown as clamped in the usual manner in the needle clamp block Icarried by the needle bar D, and the needle bar is reciprocable in arock frame I which is pivoted at K at the end of the gooseneck and isoscillated by a crank L carried by the usual rock shaft M journaled inthe gooseneck the crank being connected to a slide block N which isslidable in a guide on. the rock frame. The needles cooperate withshuttle mechanism (not shown) beneath the throat plate for forming linesof stitching. If desired, other stitch-forming mechanism includingdifferent forms of work-feeding means and non-oscillating verticallyreciprocating needles and different needle operating means, may beemployed in carrying out my invention. While the invention may beutilized in stitching over metal or impenetrable wire objects on varioustypes of material, I have shown the machine adapted for operating on aspecial type of work, that is, for stitching a fastener tape P carryingwire fastener eyes Q, to one edge of a garment R the opposite edge ofwhich has complemental fastener hooks, one needle D forming a line ofstitches S certain of which are stitched over or traverse the wires ofthe eyes, and the other needle forming a line of stitches T, both linesof stitches penetrating the fastener tape and the garment.

As hereinbefore pointed out, the invention provides an attachment forthe sewing machine to ensure that the needle shall not strike orencounter the wire of the fastener while a stitch is being formed overthe wire. Referring to FIGURES 1-18 of the drawings, the attachmentincludes a work-engaging finger 1 which is shown as formed at one end ofa curved metal sheet 2 the other end of which is secured to a plate-likeshank 3 which is vertically slidably mounted on a carrier 4. As shown,the shank has two ribs 5 at the side thereof opposite the finger 1 eachof which is slidably fitted in a guide groove 4a in the carrier and heldagainst displacement from the carrier by screws 6. The carrier ismounted to provide for horizontal movement of the finger 1, and as shownthe carrier is pivotally mounted by a screw 7 on one arm 17 of acombined hanger and guide bracket 18 which is secured on portion 8 ofthe needle bar rock frame J. The finger 1 is normally biased in adownward direction by a tension spring 9 one end of which is connectedby a screw 10 to one edge of the carrier and the other end of which isconnected by a screw 11 to the shank 3; and the finger is actuatedupwardly by engagement of a lug 12 secured to the needle bar clamp withan extension 13 at the upper end of the shank. The finger is movedhorizontally in one direction to its normal position by a tension spring14 that has one end connected to the carrier by a screw 15 and has itsother end connected to a bracket 16 which is secured to a vertical arm19 of the bracket 18 and also serves to limit movement of the carrier inone direction to its normal position. Suitable means are provided forlimiting the downward movement of the finger 1, and as shown the screws6 pass through slots 6a in the carrier and engage the lower ends of theslots to stop the downward movement of the finger when the finger isdisposed in the path of movement of the wire eyes as shown for examplein FIGURES 3, 4 and 10. It will be clear from the drawings that theupward movement of the finger takes place only during the terminalportion of the upward movement of the needle bar, when the lug 12 on theneedle bar clamp engages the extension 13 of the wire engaging fingershank 3.

The wire engaging finger is actuated horizontally to engage a wire andeffect a control movement of the wire, by coacting elements on theneedle bar and on the carrier 4, respectively. As shown, the lug 12 hasa cam surface 20 which engages a follower roller 21 journaled on a pin22 secured in the carrier and projecting through a clearance notch 23 inthe finger shank 3, the arm 19 serving as a slide guide for the lug 12.Normally while the needle is at its uppermost position, the cam surfaceis disposed above the roller 21 as shown in FIGURE 5 and during thedescent of the needle the cam surface engages the roller as shown inFIGURE 6 to swing the finger horizontally in one direction against theforce of the spring 14. With reference to FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 it will beseen that on the beginning of the descent of the needle the lug 12abuttingly underlies the extension 13 of the finger shank and during thedescent of the needle the spring 9 draws the finger shank 3 and thefinger downwardly until the downward movement of the finger is stoppedby engagement of one of the screws 6 with the end of the correspondingslot 6a, whereupon the needle continues its descent and penetration ofthe work.

In operation of the attachment, it will of course be understood that thefeed of the fabric tape P with the wire eyes thereon is in timedrelation to the reciprocation and oscillation of the needles, as is alsothe normal spacing of the eyes on the tape. If the wire of an eye shouldbecome slightly out of place so that it might be struck by the needle,the wire engaging finger 1 will be moved into the path of the wire eyeand swung horizontally in the direction opposite to the work feed so asto engage and push the wire out of the path of the descending needle asbest shown in FIGURES 9, 10 and 11. After the wire has been moved out ofthe path of the needle, the spring 14 swings the finger back to itsnormal position as shown in FIGURE 12 and the needle with the thread Tpenetrates the fabric. The needle moves with and in the direction of thefeed of the work as shown in FIGURE 13 and withdraws from the work asshown in FIGURE 14, continuing its upward movement and moving the fingerupwardly as shown in FIGURES 15 and 16, whereupon the needle againdescends and permits the finger to be pulled downwardly by the spring 9as shown in FIGURE 17, the needle then continuing its penetration of thefabric to carry the stitch over the wire as shown in FIGURE 18. Thestitches are made and completed in the usual manner to form the lines Sand T.

It will be noted that the work engaging finger is always in closeproximity to the needle, is permitted to descend by and with the needleand is elevated by lug 12 on the needle bar, and the horizontal movementof the finger to effect the control movement of the wire is produced bycoaction of the cam surface 20 and the roller 21, while the returnhorizontal movement of the finger is caused by the spring 14. Themovement of the finger relative to the needle is important only when theneedle is descending and approaching the wire and therefore, it will beapparent that the roller could be mounted on the needle clamp barinstead of on the carrier as shown,

and the cam surface could be formed on the carrier instead of on the lug12 on the needle clamp bar. It has been found that when the cam surfaceis formed on the carrier, the horizontal movement of the finger issmoother.

The attachment may also be constructed to effect the control movement onthe wire in the direction of the feed, as shown in FIGURES 20 through34. In this case, however, it is desirable that the finger engages thewire at the side thereof opposite that shown in FIGURES 1 through 18where the wire is moved in the direction opposite to the feed. In otherwords the finger is located inside the eye during the control movementof the wire as shown in FIGURE 26. The parts of the attachment are ineffect mirror images of the parts shown in FIG- URES 3 through 7 andFIGURE 19, and inasmuch as the parts of the modified form of theattachment are substantially identical in construction with the partsshown in FIGURE 3, they are designated 1 through 23, the part 1'corresponding to part 1. The sequence of operations of the needle, thework feeding and the work-engaging finger is substantially identicalwith the sequence of operation of the corresponding parts hereinbeforedescribed and therefore do not require any specific description hereexcept, possibly that FIGURE 25 corresponds to FIGURE 9, but the workengaging finger 1' is at the opposite side of the needle from the workengaging finger 1 and FIGURE '26 corresponds to FIG- URE 10 except thatthe finger 1' is at the opposite side of the wire from the finger 1, andin FIGURE 27 the control movement of the wire by the finger 1 is in thedirection of the work feed and opposite to the direction of the movementof the finger 1 as shown in FIGURE 11.

While the now-preferred embodiments of the invention have beenillustrated and described, it will be understood by those skilled in theart that the construction and operation of the attachment can bemodified Within the spirit of the invention and the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a sewing machine for stitching over wire objectson penetrable work, which machine comprises a stitch-forming mechanismincluding a needle on a reciprocating needle bar and work feeding means,of a lug on the needle bar, a wire-engaging finger having a shank, anextension on the opposite end of said shank, non-reciprocating carriermeans for slidably and rotatably mounting said shank on the sewingmachine above the work for both vertical and horizontal movementadjacent said needle, a cam and follower means one on the needle bar andthe other on said carrier, said lug engaging said extension forvertically moving said finger when said needle reciprocates to its upperposition, said cam engaging said follower when said needle reciprocatesto its lower position to move said finger in a horizontal direction,spring means connected between said shank and said carrier for biasingsaid finger to its lowest position and in a wire object engagingposition when the needle and lug descend, whereby upon descent of saidneedle the finger is lowered to engage the wire object and the cam movesthe follower and finger in a horizontal direction thereby pushing saidwire object out of the path of the needle and upon ascent of the needlethe lug raises the finger away from said wire object.

2. The combination as defined in claim 1 wherein said cam is a camsurface on said lug on the needle bar, and said follower for said camsurface is a roller on said carrier.

3. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein needle bar is of theoscillating type including a needle bar rock frame and the needle moveswith the work in the feeding direction, and said carrier is mounted onsaid rock frame.

4. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein needle bar is of theoscillating type including a needle bar rock frame and the needle moveswith the work in the feeding direction, said shank is verticallyreciprocable in the carrier, said carrier is pivotally mounted on saidrock frame, and the second-named means includes a lug on the needle barand one end of said shank for raising the finger, and coactive elementscomprising a cam and a follower therefor on the needle bar and thecarrier for moving the finger horizontally in the direction to push thewire object.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,915,580 6/1933 Rabinowitz.2,339,887 1/ 1944 Simpson. 2,872,884 2/1959 Peck. 3,006,294 10/ 1961Simpson.

FOREIGN PATENTS 503,632 6/1951 Belgium.

HERBERT F. ROSS, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 112105

